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Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Picking which Seahawks jersey to buy can be stressful for any fan. It is a marriage, of sorts. How the player performs will now reflect on you as a fan wearing his jersey. If he wins the MVP, you can strut around like you saw it coming a mile away. Likewise, if he gets arrested for sleeping with a sheep, the shame extends right past your wool coat.

The savvy fan asks some key questions before making the critical decision. How old is this player? How high was he drafted? How much longer is his contract? What does PETA think about him? Most fans will take the easy route, selecting one of the team's star players that makes them less likely to be wearing a ghost jersey, for a player no longer on the squad. The cocky fans, the ones that fancy themselves football scouting experts, play the higher stakes game of choosing a new player without enough time on the team to comfortably predict their future. I am that guy, and let me tell you, my track record ain't too hot.

Back when I moved to Seattle in 1997, my first act was to rent an apartment, my second was to buy season tickets to the Seahawks ($200 for two tickets back then!), and my third was to pick which jersey to buy. Dennis Erickson was the coach, and the easy choices would have been Warren Moon, Ricky Watters, Joey Galloway, Shawn Springs, or Chad Brown. They all felt too obvious for me, and $60 for jersey seemed too steep to screw around. I ended up waiting until 1998, and I was glad I did. The Seahawks drafted a dynamic new running back that ran his way into my heart. His name with Ahman Green, and he had a glowing 6.0 yards per carry and rocket speed. He only got 35 of the teams 426 rushing attempts, but I had seen enough to know this was my guy. I plunked down my cash for a #30 jersey, and wore it proudly...for one season (1999) before he was traded to Green Bay.

The sting of guessing wrong stuck with me for a bit. Seeing Green go on to multiple Pro Bowl and All-Pro seasons convinced me I knew how to pick the talent, I just had bad luck the first go-around. I set out looking for the next guy to earn my cash. He appeared in 2001. This player had a modest rookie season, but like Green, caught my eye with his penchant for big plays. I plunked down another chunk of change to bet big on #81, Koren Robinson. It looked like a great choice as he exploded for 78 receptions and 1240 yards in his second season, averaging almost 16 yards per catch. Two years, and handful of DUIs later, he was gone as well. Sigh...

After that, I decided to never buy a jersey again because I clearly was doing more harm than good to my favorite team. As we enter the 2011 season, the most common jerseys you will see in the stands will be Matt Hasselbeck, Lofa Tatupu and Aaron Curry. One of my favorite jerseys is a guy in my section that got a custom "AaronFuckingCurry" jersey. How's he going to feel next year? At least my embarrassing jersey's weren't so emphatic. Misery loves company, so tell me your worst jersey, and tell me who you are considering buying now.

Sounds familiar! Moved to Seattle in 1997 as well and started with Derrick Mayes (one and done). Then I also went with Koren Robinson, but I got a few more years out of mine than you did, since my wife (an art teacher) was able to skillfully change ROBINSON to BURLESON with some blue and white paint ;-)

Now, I am going with Earl Thomas. The perfect combination of safe and trendy? One can always hope.

I'm the red-faced owner of an Aaron Curry jersey. I bought it to replace my old reliable Mack Strong jersey after he retired. I wore that jersey with pride. I've had the Curry jersey on Craigslist for a few weeks with no realistic bites.

Funny, I bought the jersey and wore it to training camp before Curry had even signed a contract. An old Hawk fan standing in line behind me tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Don't you think it's a little early to be buying that jersey? He hasn't even practiced yet." I looked at him like he was an idiot as I thought to myself about how he was the safest pick in the draft. He was right.

I got a #37 Alexander jersey in 2003 (about Christmas time) I wore that jersey every game no matter where I was (including on watch in the navy for a handful of the games played while I was deployed).

In the Spring of 2006 I was flying home and believe it or not my baggage was lost by the airline never to be discovered again... My Alexander jersey was in that bag and little did I know that along with his jersey the airlines had also lost his offensive line, health and his streak of 1000 yard 15+ td seasons...

You can go wrong with ring of honr players / hof players. I own a authentic walter jones and steve largent, jacob green andkenny easley throwback premiers. I will be getting either a curt warner or alexander throwback soon.

I've got the 'usual' Tatupu and Alexander jerseys (both home and away). I also have a Ken Hamlin jersey and a Julian Peterson jersey. Then, after last season, thinking that Hill was sure to be released, I got a personalized #56 jersey b/c I was sick of buying new ones....aaaand then Hill's back. FML

My very first jersey was a Hutch jersey. And my second and third jerseys were retro Jacob Green 79 & retro Brian Bosworth jerseys. I didn't buy the retro Kennedy jersey they did two seasons ago and am still kicking myself. No. 96 was my favorite Seahawk of all time and I'm hoping they'll re-issue the jersey soon. I'm also a fan of the Walt Jones jersey and don't think you can go wrong with that one. If they ever do a retro away of 71, I'm in.

As far as the new jerseys go, I really want to get a current player, but am waiting on the Nike re-design next year. Hoping the overall design gets a make over and maybe we get an alternate or something along those lines. I'd also like to see how Okung & Moffitt develop, as those are guys that I'm interested as prospective buys.

The other jersey that I think is probably a can't miss is the Washington jersey, simply because, the team is in Washington and Leon is good. It's a like a two for one.

I used to rock a Mack Strong jersey. I bought one during the 2005 season during the last home game - the first game they were available. I wore that or a few years and I almost pulled the trigger on a Weaver jersey before getting a custom made one.

Now my Mack Strong jersey is hanging on my wall with his signature on it. I really loved that jersey.

I've narrowed my options for a new jersey down to Red Bryant or Kam Chancellor. I'm worried that I'll regret it when the new jerseys happen next year though so I'm still not sure I'll be picking one up this year. Kam would be siiiiick.